Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 February 2021
985. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the manner in which the appointments to the Horse Racing Ireland board from 1 January 2020 to date were nominated; the basis for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6466/21]
View answerHorse Racing Ireland (HRI) is a commercial state body established under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, and is responsible for the overall administration, promotion and development of the horse racing industry.
Section 4 of the Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) Act 2016 ) sets out the size and structure of the board which consists of a Chairman and thirteen ordinary members. Each ordinary member’s term of office is four years with a provision that a member of HRI shall not serve in any capacity for more than two consecutive terms (8 years).
The Act provides that three shall be chosen by the Minister for their specific skills and at least one shall be representative of the horseracing industry in Northern Ireland.
The remaining ten ordinary members are appointed by the Minister following nomination from certain industry bodies.
The Act provides that a member, whose term of office has expired, has not been reappointed or may not be reappointed due to having served two consecutive terms, shall continue in office until the vacancy is filled by appointment of another person.
For the Deputy's information, details of appointments/re-appointments to the board of HRI from 1st January 2020 to a current date are in tabular form below.
